Forbidden Siren is the latest in a long line of Japanese horror titles such as Resident Evil, Silent Hill and Project Zero, all of which are far more likely to have you sleeping with the light on then any modern Hollywood slasher flick. Developed by the guy behind the original Silent Hill, Forbidden Siren shares that title's fetish for pea-souper-style fog, ineffectual torches and highly disturbing sound effects. The gameplay though has more in common with the recent Manhunt, as you try to sneak around a haunted Japanese village, avoiding combat wherever you can. This is further aided by the game's main gameplay gimmick: your ability to "sightjack" other characters so that you can see the world through their eyes--in the case of monsters so you can make a run for it while they're looking the other way. The game is broken up into a large number of small levels and distributed among a wide range of characters, with a diverse range of abilities and items. All of this generally works very well, although it's quite slow paced and in truth not nearly as scary as the games it'd like to count as its peers. The biggest problem with the game by far though is the absolutely appalling voiceovers, whose thick London accents and generally poor delivery have you wincing every time you hear them. Thankfully the gameplay is just enough to make you forget such aural horrors and keeps your mind fixed on the game's more intentional ones. --David Jenkins